Hydbant-cap



' NOAH w. siennes, or oINcINNA'rr, OHIO.

HYDRANT-CAP.

a remedy for the liability that the caps of` stop cock boxes are at present subject to l of being purloined or mislaid.

Anyone who will observe the stop boxes of our principal cities cannot but be made aware of their frequent exposure to dirt and weather owing to the absence of the covers, which being merely placed loosely upon the boxes, are subject to the depredations of mischievous boys. In my own town of Cincinnati the yearly cost of replacing the missing covers of the gas and water mains is quite a formidable item. Boxes thus exposed, very soon become choked with mud and dust; which` not only increases the difficulty of manipulation; but, getting in among the joints, causes the Wearing surfaces of the cocks to grind and finally to become leaky. The absence of any adequate fastening in the usual stop-box covers, arises in part from the necessity which exists for extreme simplicity and absence of working joints in a fixture intended to occupy a dusty thoroughfare. In the plan here proposed (and now generally adopted by the water works company `and citizens of Cin cinnati) the devices for fastening are all cast outs, and form one piece with Ythe cover.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section near the midwidth of the box. Fig. 2 exhibits the under side of the notch.

The cap (a) I furnish near two 'of its adjacent corners with lugs (Z9), serving the part of pivots or.gudgeons, upon .which the cap turns in opening and shutting, and also as a mea-ns of preventing the displacement of the cap, the upward range of the lugs being limited by the flanges These lugs or pivots (b) stand when the cap is 011 its seat at a distance below and clear of the flanges greater than the depth of the rabbet in which the cap rests, for a purpose hereafter explained. Through the flange which serves as the slot of the cap I cut two notches or gaps (0") of suflicient dimensions to permit the cap to be passed upward, with its front edge foremost, previous to the attachment of the frame (el) to the wooden box or case (e) which surrounds and protects the cock. The lid or cap being thus passed upward and suffered to rest upon the ange (c), the frame is then secured to the box by woodscrews passing through ears (f) projecting from the lower edge of the frame. At the lower side of the cap in front is a catch (la), which, when the cap is shut down, interlocks withthe lug The width of bearing of these catches exceeds the fore and aft play of the cap within the rabbet.

A pointed instrument inserted under the front edge will fail to open the cover, because the rear edge of the cover is, by the wall (t) of the rabbet, prevented from receding far -enough for the catches to disengage, and the rear edge can only be lifted the short distance which intervenes between the upper side of the pivots (b) and the under surface of the flanges (g).

In order to open the box, it is necessary with a pointed instrumentto first raise the back edge of the cap to the position marked (2) and so that the lower angle is clear of the rabbet, then having drawn the cover backward until the front edge is clear at the catches elevate the front edge and draw the cover forward again so as to drop the pivots to their original position, after which the cover can be raised and folded clear back, the heel of the cover descending into the recess of the notches. To close the box, the above motions must of course be reversed. These manipulations although somewhat lengthy to describe, will be but the work of an instant with a person accustomed to the work.

Although in the present illustration the apparatus is represented as applied to the usual wooden case, I now prefer and commonly useA an iron one.

I claim as new herein and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The formation of .the cap or cover of a stop cock bog, with catch (it) of width exceeding the `play of the Cap within the rabbet, and with pivots (Z2), whose distance from their confining flanges g) exceeds the depth of the rabbet (or devices substantially 10 N. w. sPEERs.

Witnesses:

GEO. `I-I. KNIGHT, O. KNIGHT. 

